Monday Morning
by taylorjeanjn
Summary: The first week after Claire's rather...eventful Saturday detention. CH. #3 NOW UP!
1. Monday Morning

**This is my version of Claire's first meeting with Bender outside of detention. I'm planning on keeping it as a one-shot, but it depends on what you guys think. **

**Rated T For: Language, Innuendo, A brief drug reference**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own "The Breakfast Club" or the associated characters. I'm borrowing them.**

"Bye, Dad," Claire said coldly, putting her hand on the door handle. She resisted the urge to groan when she heard the warning bell ring inside the school. She knew that she didn't have a chance of making it to class on time. Not when her locker was almost all the way on the other end of the school from the front entrance. _Thanks a lot, Dad,_ She thought bitterly. Sure, she didn't like it when her parents got into a heated argument, but when it made _her _late for school, then things had gone too far. They really didn't give a shit about her. Just their own problems.

As soon as she thought that, she heard Andrew's sarcastic voice in her head. _You're breaking my heart. _Claire snorted. Andrew. Always the charmer.

Almost immediately, she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. When she looked at her dad, compared to his pushy bastard of a father…

"Bye, honey. I'll see you tonight, okay?" Her dad responded, oblivious as ever. Claire just nodded curtly before throwing the door open and making her way towards the entrance of the school just as the final bell rang.

Claire cursed under her breath, picking up the pace.

Once inside, she saw only a few students milling around either talking to friends or standing at their lockers, getting their stuff ready to get to class.

Claire started walking in the direction of her locker, smiling at a few of the people that she knew from her various classes and clubs. She nodded at some of them greeted her as if they were best friends, while she had no idea who they were. She assumed that they knew who she was, admired her too, because of her reputation. She fought back a smile at the thought, but it slid away when she heard Brian, as though he was standing right next to her. _You're so conceited. You're so full of yourself, Claire. Why are you like that?_

She swallowed hard, pushing those thoughts away. She wasn't conceited; just honest. It was the truth that people admired her. Anyone with eyes could see that.

As Claire made her way through the now almost entirely deserted hallways, she heard a rough voice just around the corner say, "What's with the earring?"

She continued walking, hoisting her backpack back up as it started to slide down her shoulder. She froze and nearly dropped the damn thing when she heard a much more familiar voice.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" After spending almost nine hours in detention hearing it, she'd recognize that voice anywhere. John Bender.

"It's a chick earring," The other voice responded. Slowly, Claire made her way around the corner as Bender and his friend were both silent. When they came into view she realized why Bender hadn't responded. He was too busy flipping the guy off. The other guy continued, "Look man, it's sparkly and everything. Chick. Earring."

Seeing Bender, she resisted the urge to snicker. He was, literally, wearing a "chick earring". It was _hers_.

"Mike?" Bender began, not noticing Claire standing twenty feet away.

"What?" His friend asked, grinning like he knew what was coming.

"Fuck you."

Mike chuckled loudly, clapping a hand on Bender's back. "Right back at you."

Claire almost laughed at how Bender acted with his friends, compared to how she acted with her own. But, there was a small part of her kind of wished that they did act more like that. Though she'd never mention it, there was this closeness between Bender and Mike that she didn't really have with her own best friends. Bender probably didn't have to worry about getting stabbed in the back like she did.

Again, she suddenly heard a voice in her head. This time it was Allison's. _HA!_

Claire felt a little bit sick to her stomach. At least she _had_ friends, potential backstabbers or not. Allison didn't have anyone.

Claire swallowed. When that didn't help, she took a deep breath and exhaled. Her head was kind of messed up today. She just needed to relax and stop thinking about stuff like that and she'd be good to go. That was probably easier said than done, though.

Claire realized, a bit too late, that her breathing hadn't necessarily been _quiet_. And in a deserted hallway, well, two guys standing twenty feet away would probably hear her. Of course they would.

Bender turned sideways and his gaze locked on Claire. Like an idiot, she just stared at him, having no idea if she should take off running or walk right up to him and start talking. As she looked at Bender, it was almost unsettling. Back in detention, she'd felt like she could have known him her entire life. But now…it felt like there was a wall built up, one that made him some sort of stranger to her.

She gave him a half smirk/half smile, trying to look like this wasn't awkward for her. _He_ didn't seem to be bothered at all. If you saw him, you wouldn't have a clue that they'd poured their hearts out in detention just a few days ago.

While Claire was internally freaking out, Bender just nodded coolly in response, making her want to walk up and kick him. Why couldn't she do that whole indifference thing? It would've been pretty damn useful right then.

Noticing that his friend's attention was elsewhere, Mike turned and saw her. He looked her up and down, causing Claire to blush, before indicating her and saying, "See, that earring's the kind of shit that a chick like that would wear." Grinning, he turned back to face his friend. "I might be wrong, but from what I can see, you're not a girl. And you're definitely not like _that_."

Claire scowled, not liking the way he talked about her like she wasn't standing right there. She wasn't so sure she appreciated his tone very much, either.

She coughed to hide her annoyance, thinking of a few choice words for this Mike guy. She tried to stifle a giggle as she realized that these were the same choice words she'd had for John Bender when she'd first met him.

After a few more seconds of silence, Mike asked, "So, babe…are you lost?"

Claire glowered over at him, knowing that he was making fun of her. She briefly considered spinning around and walking away. This guy was already enough of a jerk for her to see that he wasn't worth talking to.

Bender's voice echoed inside of her head. _You don't know any of my friends. You don't look at any of my friends. And you certainly wouldn't condescend to _speak_ to any of my friends._

"No," She answered hotly, wondering if Bender was thinking along the same lines that she was.

"What, you looking for some fun then? Planning on being some kind of rebel? Cut class?" Mike's eyes were shining as he started walking towards her. "You know, you could be kind of cute if it weren't for all the…pink." He said, waving his hand at her clothes. She _was_ wearing a lot of pink. "Of course, if we could get rid of all of it, it wouldn't be much of a problem."

Mike started laughing again. Not oblivious to what he was implying, Claire stepped forward a little bit. She looked past him to see Bender just standing their, looking pissed off. _Wow, thanks for the help_, Claire thought. When it became pretty clear that he wasn't going to do anything, she muttered, "Asshole." Claire wasn't really sure who she was addressing. It applied to both of them equally.

Bender walked forward and right past her. He said, "C'mon. Let's get out of here. We still got to grab the stuff from my locker." He really was an idiot. How much dope was he stupid enough to keep in his locker? He was just asking to get expelled. Probably knew it, too.

Mike the Asshole winked at her and sauntered away like the cocky jerk that he was.

"Hey," She called sarcastically, causing them both to turn around. She looked right at Bender. "Nice earring."

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**Please review if you've got a second! This is my first Breakfast Club and 3rd person fanfic, so I'd love to hear how I did. ^_^**


	2. A Conversation Out Back

**Thanks for all of the reviews, subscriptions, and favorites. I appreciate them a lot, which is why I decided to continue on with this story. ^_^ And, just a random thing, the "Mr. Lange" that I mention was actually included in the original Breakfast Club script. He just got cut out. Poor Mr. Lange.**

**DISCLAIMER: No. I don't own Breakfast Club characters, settings, etc. Though I **_**did **_**come up with some of my own characters. AKA Julie.**

Chapter 2: A Conversation Out Back

Claire strolled out of math while Julie chatted away, oblivious to the fact that Claire wasn't paying any attention at all. Julie was a decent person to have around, always up-to-date on the gossip going around Shermer High; if you wanted to know something, she was your go-to person. Though she was pretty much useless if you were looking for someone to talk to. Claire had figured that out pretty quickly in ninth grade when she'd mentioned that she liked one of the football players and it took less than a week for the entire student body to be aware of it.

Claire made her way to her locker, which wasn't too far from the math classroom. Just as she started to put in her combo, she felt someone not-so-gently brush her shoulder. She looked up and, seeing nothing, decided that whoever it was had just been shoved into her or something. It happened all the time, with the hallways being as ridiculously crowded as they were. Obviously, whatever architect the school had hadn't guessed that the population would reach over a thousand kids.

Just before she turned back to continue opening her locker, Claire saw the back of John Bender's head as he walked in the opposite direction. He glanced back over his shoulder, looking directly at her, before continuing right on. Claire rolled her eyes in irritation, assuming that he'd only tapped her arm to confuse her. That was the kind of thing that he'd do for fun. Anything to get some kind of reaction.

Then, she glanced back in the direction that he was headed. Oh. There was a door that led out towards the back of the school, just down the hall. Students weren't supposed to use it unless there was a fire or something, but Vernon had never bothered to actually install some sort of alarm. Either he was stupid enough to trust the kids at his school, or he just didn't give a shit if they ditched because it didn't make any difference to him.

"Julie?" Claire interrupted, seeing an offended look cross her friend's face. "Sorry. I just…have to go see Mr. Lange. I think that I bombed his test yesterday."

"How? Social studies is the easiest class there is. Even that one guy, Jake or whatever, _he _passed Lange's class. He's the one that had to re-do tenth grade a few…" Claire tuned Julie out, already having heard the story. Finally, when Julie took a breath, Claire mumbled some excuse about not wanting to be late for her next class, even if it was because she needed to talk to a teacher. Really, it was a pretty lame excuse. Claire had never had a problem being tardy before; she'd accumulated a number of lunch detentions because of it.

Not missing Julie's bewildered look, Claire rushed off after Bender. As she fought her way through the sea of people, she started to realize how stupid she was being. How did she even know that Bender wanted her to come talk to him, after the way he'd acted that morning? Hell, she wasn't even sure if he'd been the one to tap on her shoulder. Her head really _was_ screwed up. Maybe if she just turned back around, it would go back to the way it was before…

The minute bell rang and Claire sighed, knowing that she wouldn't make it to English on time, whether she went to class that second or not. She might as well go and see what Bender wanted…if he'd even gone outside in the first place. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't actually _seen _the door open and then close again.

Throwing caution to the wind, she shoved the door open. Claire was both surprised and not to see Bender leaning against a tree, taking his coat off and then chucking it in a heap on the ground near him. She opened her mouth to greet him, but closed it again, remembering their encounter that morning. Why had she followed him like a dog when he didn't do shit for her? It wasn't like she owed him anything.

"Hi," Claire muttered bitterly.

He looked up at her, a smile dancing on his lips. "You actually caught on to that."

"I'm not stupid," She retorted, slightly insulted. When Bender just laughed in response, she began, "You know how I saw you this morning? In the hall?" She pressed as Bender acted like he hadn't heard her, focusing all of his attention on a pack of cigarettes that he'd just pulled from his pocket. Sarcastically, she said, "Yeah, thanks a lot. You really showed that…" She paused, searching for his name. "…Mike guy up." Nothing. _Still_.

Fuming, Claire spun around, heading back towards the door. She really hoped that it wasn't locked from the outside. Then she'd be screwed.

"You're just being pissy," Bender called after her. "If I would've helped you out, you woulda gotten pissed off then, too. Probably told me you could handle it on your own, right?"

She turned back to face him, wondering how he could _possibly_ find a way to blame her for his lame ass friend's behavior. Sharply, she answered, "No."

"Then you'd find something else to whine about. Something about how, if I'd have helped you, someone might've seen and then…" Bender whistled, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "…There goes your rep."

"No, that didn't even—" She began furiously, her voice rising. She'd thought that he'd figured out that she wasn't just some shallow, self-absorbed bitch like he'd always thought. Apparently not.

With mock seriousness, Bender cut her off. "So you'd rather have me protect you from my big, bad friend than save your face." He sucked in a breath, then growled, "Are you shitting me?"

Claire opened her mouth and closed it, too indignant to form a coherent response. Defensively, she said, "You're just trying to let yourself off the hook. You didn't help because you didn't feel like putting _your _face on the line."

"Wow, Claire, you know you know me so fucking well! Nine hours and then you just _get _me! Queenie's perfect _and_ psychic," He said, almost yelling, his voice seeping with false enthusiasm.

Reaching the end of her patience, Claire turned and stalked back towards the door, muttering to herself, "Why I ever though you were worth dealing with all this bullshit…"

She took a hold of the handle, pulling expectantly. Nothing. She gripped it tightly and pulled harder. Still locked. Damn door.

With an exasperated sigh, she started heading around the school towards the front. It didn't look like there was any way in besides the main entrance, which didn't work out too well for her. She wasn't exactly sure how she would explain why she was outside the building to the people in the office. It really sucked that the front door was in the secretary's plain view.

She heard Bender's footsteps behind her. "You know, sweets, it isn't nice to walk away without saying good bye," He said seriously.

"Good. Bye," She replied coldly, not slowing down.

"Don't extend yourself, Claire. You might actually make me think that you don't want me to go jump off a bridge." Claire unsuccessfully attempted to fight back a smile at his words. So he _did_ know just how much of a pain in the ass he was being. Bender caught up to her and noticed her grin. "I knew it."

Claire's face fell, assuming that he was going to say something to piss her off again. Suspiciously, she asked, "Knew what?"

Bender beamed, almost proudly. "You want me to go jump off a bridge."

Claire snorted. She shrugged, nonchalantly saying, "Maybe."

They were both silent for a few seconds, until Bender abruptly asked, "You want to go somewhere?"

In surprise, Claire stopped. "Like where?"

"I don't know," He replied. Indicating the school building, he added, "Away from this hellhole. I'm not in the mood to get another lecture from that fat lady who works at the front desk about my I-don't-give-a-shit-if-I'm-late-or-not attitude."

"I don't know…" Claire trailed off hesitantly, biting her lip.

"Oh, come on. What the hell are you going to miss? A lecture about some dead person who started a war? An assignment about the parts of speech, or useless shit like that?"

Claire thought it over, seeing his point. When she'd ditched to go shopping last week, she really hadn't missed anything. "Fine."

Bender grinned triumphantly, taking her arm and leading her back in the direction that they'd just come from. In response to her bewildered expression, he explained, "There's a road back here. Leads to some stuff we can do." He chuckled under his breath, then turned to her and said, "And hey…you might even get another detention with me."

Claire just groaned.

**END CHAPTER 2**

**This is actually pretty fun to write. I like it ^_^ And now that I finished with my Twilight story, I should actually have some time to work on this one. Anyways, please review! I'll give you…COOKIES! Yes, cyber cookies, but cookies none-the-less. **


	3. Ditching

**Thanks again to everyone. ^_^**

**DISCLAIMER: See previous chapters if you have some strange urge to read a disclaimer.**

Chapter 3: Ditching

Claire played with the edge of her shirt as she silently walked beside Bender. The silence wasn't necessarily _uncomfortable_, but it was far from enjoyable. Of course, if they did happen to talk to each other, Claire knew that any form of communication would most likely result in an argument, followed by another silence. She figured that they might as well skip a step.

It was hot outside, and even though it probably wasn't smart to wear a jacket so late March, Claire had done it anyway. As beads of sweat started to collect on her forehead, she finally shrugged off her jacket and faced Bender. Claire didn't try to hide her irritation as she asked, "Are we just going to walk around?"

Bender abruptly stopped and turned to look at her. Smugly, he suggested, "Well, we could stop and make out…Or more."

Claire threw her jacket at him, unable to tell if he was serious or not. She continued walking as Bender caught it easily and slung it over his shoulder. Claire was glad that, if nothing else, she'd at least gotten Bender to carry her coat for her. Although he probably didn't even realize that he was doing something almost gentlemanly. But then again, the reason that she'd thrown her jacket at him in the first place kind of offset the favor.

"So was that your plan the whole time?" She asked finally, referring to his idea. Claire couldn't decide if she wanted to be amused or annoyed that Bender hadn't even tried to be subtle about it.

"Well…" He trailed off. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw that he was grinning impishly at her. She gave him a dark look, so he hastily moved on. "Then how about this?" He put his hand in his jacket and pulled out a brown bag. Claire got one whiff of it, which was enough to tell her exactly what was inside. "I brought it from home since my stash in my locker was getting low… And you know, I wouldn't pass up another opportunity to hear you talk about how popular you are," He added, smirking at her.

"Asshole," Claire muttered. At least she hadn't been as bad as Andy. _She_ hadn't hopped around the library showing off her muscles; not that she would've really had many to show off anyway.

"Well do you want it?" Bender asked, giving the bag a little shake as he held it out to her.

She didn't even need to think about it. "No. If we get caught, I'm in enough trouble as it is. I don't need to come back smelling like pot, walking next to some mysterious guy from detention. Don't you have anything else to do?" Claire paused, before amending, "Something that doesn't involve sex or drugs? Or both?"

She looked at Bender defiantly, expecting an arguement.

"Not ev—."

She cut him off instantly. "Not a chance."

Bender held her gaze for a few more seconds before sighing in defeat. "There's an old movie theater around here somewhere."

Claire stared at him in disbelief. "You don't know where it is? We're just going to walk around until we find it?"

"You want to hitch a ride from someone?" He asked, indicating the completely deserted road. Only one or two cars had passed them in the time that they'd been walking.

She scowled over at Bender, but mentally agreed that he had a point. And even if there _did _happen to be a car driving by, Claire knew that she didn't have the guts to hitch hike anyway.

About twenty minutes later, and just as Claire's patience was nearing an end, the movie theater finally came into view. If it had taken much longer to find _something_ to do, Claire would've just given up. In fact, she would've turned back a long time ago if Bender hadn't frequently told her that it was "just a few more minutes". A few more minutes her ass.

They made their way up to the only ticket window open. A woman, probably in her early fifties, sat behind it. By the brooding expression on her face, Claire could guess that this wasn't the first time that Bender had associated with the lady; he'd obviously left a strong impression.

"No school today, kids?" The woman asked, sitting up straighter in her chair.

"No. We just have…it's a…." Claire stammered. Well, if the lady didn't know that they were supposed to be in school before, she certainly did now. Claire's feverish talking made sure of that.

"Two tickets to "Mischief"," Bender cut in. Claire looked at him incredulously. It was going to be hard enough just to get the woman to give them tickets to a movie while they were clearly supposed to be in school. This lady definitely wasn't going to let them get into an _R rated_ movie. And Claire didn't have her fake ID with her anyway.

"Do you have IDs?" The woman leaned forward, smiling almost mockingly.

Bender opened his mouth, evidently to argue. Before he could get them both thrown out, Claire grasped his arm and pulled him away from the window. "On second thought, I don't think I want to see a movie today. Thank you, though," She told the ticket woman, spinning around and heading back out towards the same damn road they'd just spent half an hour walking on.

Claire sighed in exasperation. Walking up some deserted road was about as exciting as just sitting through class. The only difference was that, if she'd just gone to class in the first place, there wasn't a chance that she'd end up with another detention.

She turned and saw that Bender was absolutely beaming at her, clearly trying not to laugh.

"What?" Claire asked defensively.

Bender's grin widened. "You scared of her?" He looked back in the direction of the movie theater.

"Shut up," She said through gritted teeth, wishing that she had something else to throw at him.

**END CHAPTER**

**Well, there's chapter three ^_^ And I promise that I **_**do **_**have a plot for this story. You'll see. And please do review. I'm still not confident on my characterization and stuff like that, so I really appreciate the feedback.**


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